The first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR
2002) highlights that Arab countries have made
significant strides in more than one area of human
development in the past three decades. Nevertheless,
the predominant characteristic of the current Arab
reality seems to be the existence of deeply rooted
shortcomings in the Arab institutional structure
that represent an obstacle to furthering human
development. The report summarizes that there are
three primary deficits: freedom, the empowerment of
women, and knowledge. According to the Arab Human
Development Report 2003, there is no alternative but
to reform from within. Such reform must be based
upon rigorous self-criticism as well as an effective
and genuine societal transformation, involving
concentrated efforts from leadership throughout all
Arab countries, hence a societal change. By contrast,
reform imposed from abroad cannot serve Arab
interests. Rather, such impositions merely serve the
interests of those who impose such a will. The Greater
Middle East initiative, which drew upon a selective
and ill-conceived reading of the first and second Arab
Human Development Reports, is an attempt by the
present US administration to lend some credibility to
its strategic plans in the Arab region in the context of
seeking to dominate the world.